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Have you heard of Kickstarter or crowdfunding? If not, you soon will.

Crowdfunding is an alternative way to raise capital to get a venture off the ground. The concept’s been around for several years and it’s growing fast: The largest crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, received over $300 million in pledges in 2012.

It’s going to be an important component of tomorrow’s business. In fact, the crowdfunding phenomenon has fascinating lessons for any business...

A Quick Primer on Kickstarter

An individual or organization first brings a project idea to Kickstarter. The project has to fit within one of Kickstarter’s categories, such as Film, Food, Technology, and Games.Kickstarter doesn’t fund businesses, or projects that continue into the middle-distance. Instead, it accepts a well-defined project that can easily be said to be finished. For example, a CD, a movie, or even a party.

You tell Kickstarter how much money you want to raise and how much time you wish to raise it in. You get to choose whichever amount of money you think you need, but your time is limited to 60 days.

Kickstarter is an “all or nothing” proposition. If you fail to raise the amount of money you identified, you get nothing from your backers/donors. However, if fortune smiles, and you meet or exceed your funding goal, you get to keep the money pledged to your project (less 8–10% in fees).

These Lessons can Help any Business Succeed

When I tell people how to be successful in crowdfunding, I usually give four pieces of advice. But these are applicable to any business, even those that don’t seed using crowdfunding:

1. Craft your Message to your Audience.

More than half of all Kickstarter projects fail to reach their funding goal. Those that succeeded started with a focused message and a clear understanding of their target audience.

If you don’t hone your message and tightly identify your audience, you’ll fail to find success. In tomorrow’s business, more is not better when it comes to identifying your market: More people equals more segments—equals more diversity.

That dilutes your message, making it complex and unfocused.

2. Make a Plan

Benjamin Franklin and Winston Churchill are both credited with saying “If you fail to plan you have planned to fail.” No matter who said it, it’s completely true when it comes to success in crowdfunding.

Having a plan, whether it’s a business plan or a Kickstarter plan, dramatically increases the chances for success. The plan needs to identify the message you’re sharing, your market, your audience, and your prospect.

The tighter the definition, the greater chance for success. A plan should lay out the timeline, responsibilities, expected results, and milestones along the way.

It takes a lot of work to create a detailed plan. The excitement of the idea can begin to dim with time, and you may be tempted to rush in while you burn bright with ambition and enthusiasm. But don’t give in.

Resist the urge to wing it. The hard work will pay off in the end.

3. Create Fans

Your plan should describe how you’ll make a strong presence before you launch. You should build awareness and a fan base long before you start asking for money.

This lesson is especially important for businesses. No one likes to be sold to: If the first contact you have with your customers or backers is a request for money, your chances for success are very low.

Build a relationship with your market before you ask for the sale. It strengthens the relationship and increases your chance of closing the deal.

Fans are critical to success in tomorrow’s business. Without their support, their efforts, and their belief in the project, you’re almost guaranteed to fail.

4. Take Risks

When was the last time you asked someone for money? The feeling can be one of humiliation or of fear.

Our society doesn’t look kindly on those who come begging for money—especially if they don’t appear to need it. Nevertheless, this is what a project owner does: They step out of their comfort zone and begin to ask strangers for money.

It’s a terrifying experience when your personal passion or dream is tied up in a project in full view of the world, which you then ask to judge with its money.

But this risk taking is what separates success from failure. Taking the chance, knowing that more than half of efforts fail, a project owner still has to believe in themselves and put themselves out there, to face failure in a very public way.

Or, if they’ve done their planning, their fan building, and focused on their message, tomorrow’s business executive can find success.

Lessons for All

Those four points are important for any businesses to recognize. The crowdfunding economy generates a level of excitement that’s a perfect example for tomorrow’s business.

It demonstrates what happens when you pursue a dream or idea, with a focused message, a solid plan of execution, a strong fan base, and the willingness to take risks. You create a culture that rewards risk taking, and inspires people to pursue their dreams and passions.

But wait! I said there were five lessons...

5. A Culture of Support

Crowdfunding is a great example of how a culture of support—even in the face of failure—can bring about great things.

I’ve personally backed many projects; at times, my pledge hasn’t generated anything, other than the chance to let that person know that I support their passion. But often that same person later goes on to manage a successful crowdfunded project.

If you focus on rewarding those who pour passion into their work, who take risks worth taking, and who support their fellow workers, then you’ll build a culture that works magic.